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reetings, from the ACC Foundation! It has been wonderful connecting with many of you since our previous, quarterly e-Update. The Foundation kicked off the summer with an amazing event, our second annual Global Women in Law and Leadership program (GWILL) held at the United Nations in New York City. We enjoyed a terrific reception and dinner, celebrating our distinguished honorees who spoke of challenges they overcame on their paths toward the leadership roles they currently hold. The candid discussions during the newly added, day-long symposium were key reminders that each one of us can be a change agent to eliminate gender disparities in the in-house world. Today, ACC’s membership consists of half men and half women—a tremendous milestone. Just as inspiring is the fact that many of you have achieved work-life balance and are willing to share details of your journeys to benefit your peers. However, in-house women still lag behind men in terms of salary and professional opportunity and advancement. So lots of important work remains before parity is truly realized. But as the conversations at GWILL showed all of us, we can bridge these gaps by learning from and partnering with each other. This e-Update contains some ideas of how to do this. Our colleagues at OnRamp have spotlighted a female lawyer who returned to the workforce after a 15-year hiatus to raise children. The second installment from our series, “Transition Ahead: In-House Career Strategies,” emphasizes the importance of consistently making a favorable and thoughtful impression on audiences on LinkedIn and other social media. Furthermore, in-house newcomers should find helpful our information about ACC’s pro bono arm—including a way for participants to simultaneously earn CLE credit. As summer nears its end, I’m very excited about our forthcoming events, such as our signature Corporate Counsel Classic—golf, spa and networking—on October 14 that coincides with ACC’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Thanks so much for your continued support! Jennifer Chen Director, ACC Foundation If Dianne Salesin, OnRamp Fellow at Amazon Web Services, could give returning lawyers one piece of advice, it would be to give yourself the time to get back up to speed and enjoy the process of learning. Dianne is a prime example of an attorney that the OnRamp Fellowship is designed to support – a female lawyer who took a hiatus from the legal profession to raise her children and 15 years later sought to return to the full-time practice of law. Through the Fellowship – a re- entry platform that matches experienced women returning to the workforce after a career hiatus with law firms, legal departments, and financial services firms in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the UK – Dianne is in the midst of a year-long paid position with Amazon that is helping her to relaunch her career. Like most of the 53 OnRamp Fellows, Dianne never imagined that she would have difficulty returning to practice when she was ready. After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School, she began her legal career as a corporate and securities associate at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. From there, she joined Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, where she was an associate for five years and a partner for three and also served as the firm’s Director of Corporate and Securities Group Resources. Her experience included mergers and acquisitions, corporate financings, and counseling companies regarding securities law compliance and corporate communications. During her hiatus, Dianne became involved with the Rochester General Hospital Association, serving on its Board of Directors for 12 years, including a two-year term as President of the Board. Dianne says re-entering practice as an OnRamp Fellow with Amazon Web Services was the ideal way to handle the challenges of returning after a 15-year hiatus. Upon starting at Amazon in October 2016, the first thing she noticed was how much legal resources and technology had changed since she had last practiced. Because some of the technology that Dianne uses every day didn’t even exist when she last practiced, she had to temper her own expectations of what she could do from day one. “I was used to performing at such a high level, and I wanted to come back in and immediately perform at that high level again,” she said. But she has learned to lean on co- workers more than she had in the past to ensure she is providing top quality work in the most efficient way. “Amazon is a fast-paced environment, but it’s a great team to work with. One of the best things about working at Amazon is that they hire the best people.” In addition to giving yourself time to get up to speed, Dianne suggests that returners slow down, enjoy the process of learning, and be open to new opportunities. “You can’t duplicate your old experience, so be open to trying new things and practices.” In addition, she stresses the importance of employer-provided training for returners, especially in the areas of technology, company policy, and any CLE-type offerings that the company may have. Dianne has taken advantage of Amazon’s extensive legal education series. “It’s easy to get frustrated with yourself, so it’s important to remember that the Fellowship is a learning opportunity,” Dianne says. But the employers that participate in the OnRamp Fellowship aren’t necessarily looking for a traditional lateral hire, and understand the value of hiring from the previously untapped talent pool of women returners. And, for women like Dianne and employers like Amazon’s legal department, that’s a classic win-win scenario. Summer 2017 GET TO KNOW ACC’S PRO BONO ARM - Corporate Pro Bono For seventeen years, ACC and Pro Bono Institute (PBI) have collaborated to support and promote in-house pro bono through their global partnership project: Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO). As ACC’s pro bono arm, CPBO is the only organization dedicated to empowering in-house counsel worldwide to use their legal skills to provide pro bono services to needy clients. CPBO provides a wide range of services to ACC chapters and legal departments, from free confidential consultations to resources to the Clinic in a Box® program, as well as programming and training at the ACC Annual Meeting. In addition, CPBO works closely with the advocacy team at ACC to remove practice rule barriers to in-house counsel engaging in pro bono. CONSULTING Since 2000, CPBO has worked with 44 ACC chapters and more than 900 legal departments, including hundreds of small and medium-sized legal departments, as well as a majority of the Fortune 100 and more than one-third of the Fortune 500. CPBO staff offers free, confidential consultation services to in-house lawyers, legal departments, and ACC chapters to start, expand, and support pro bono programs. Every in-house pro bono effort brings together unique organizations, clients, volunteers, and communities. CPBO experts have experience in successfully guiding departments and chapters of all sizes and industries to establish strong, effective, and enduring pro bono programs. CPBO CHALLENGE® INITIATIVE Developed at the request and with the advice and counsel of chief legal officers and launched in 2006, the CPBO Challenge® initiative is the only industry-wide standard for in-house pro bono that enables legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their support for pro bono service. To date, CLOs at 168 departments have signed the CPBO Challenge® statement, committing to use their best efforts to involve at least one-half of their legal staff in pro bono service and encourage their outside law firms to sign up to PBI’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® initiative. Since January 1, 2016, CPBO has welcomed 25 new signatories: In 2016, CPBO issued the first CPBO Chapter Challenge which invites ACC chapter members to demonstrate their commitment to pro bono legal services by signing or encouraging their CLOs to sign the CPBO Challenge® statement. CPBO honored the 2016 CPBO Chapter Challenge winner - ACC Chicago – at the 2016 Annual Meeting. The 2017 CPBO Chapter Challenge is currently underway. RESOURCES CPBO offers a variety of tools for in-house lawyers starting a pro bono program or looking to revamp, improve, or expand an existing program. CPBO provides samples and form documents, best practice profiles of legal department and ACC chapter pro bono programs, infographics on in-house pro bono, and a library of CPBO-produced guides, reports, and toolkits to answer questions and concerns and address obstacles. CONFERENCES, TRAINING AND PRESENTATIONS Each year CPBO provides programming on in-house pro bono at ACC’s Annual Meeting and provides resources and in-person consultation at its booth on the exhibit hall floor. During the year, CPBO offers various training opportunities and is available to present on various in-house pro bono topics at events, including: • webinars; • legal department meetings; • regional meetings; • ACC chapter events; and • pro bono program launches. CLINIC IN A BOX® PROGRAM CPBO’s Clinic in a Box® program provides in-house counsel the opportunity to earn CLE credit while advising nonprofit organizations or small businesses. Hosted in collaboration with legal departments, ACC chapters, nonprofit organizations, and major law firms, these clinics are an ideal introduction for in-house counsel to apply their skills to pro bono service. CPBO has co-hosted more than 70 clinics and is currently working on its 36th clinic with an ACC chapter when it re-teams in July with ACC Chicago for its ninth clinic! The ACC Foundation is proud to support the important work of CPBO, which benefits legal departments, ACC chapters, and ultimately underserved communities and individuals. For more information about CPBO and its efforts, see www.cpbo.org or contact CPBO Director . CPBO CHALLENGE® INITIATIVE ➢ Amazon.com, Inc. ➢ Barclays Bank PLC ➢ BMO Financial Group ➢ The Brookings Institution ➢ CHS Inc. ➢ Chubb Group of Insurance Companies ➢ Crown Canyon Capital ➢ CUNA Mutual Group ➢ Epoch.com LLC ➢ Feeney Brothers Excavation Corporation ➢ Green Planet Group, Inc. ➢ The Home Depot Inc. ➢ Leidos, Inc. ➢ Linkedin Corporation ➢ Molson Coors Brewing Company ➢ National Rural Electric Cooperative Association ➢ Reliant Care Management Co LLC ➢ Sanofi US Services Inc. ➢ Sapa Extrusions North America, LLC ➢ Schuster Driscoll, LLC ➢ TCF Financial Corporation ➢ Thrivent Financial for Lutherans ➢ Uber Technologies, Inc. ➢ Vail Systems, Inc. ➢ Zurich American Insurance Company RESOURCES Volunteers from ACC Chicago meet with clients at its annual CPBO Clinic in a Box® program in 2016. CLINIC IN A BOX®PROGRAM Created in January 2014, the OnRamp Fellowship is a re-entry platform that matches experienced women returning to the legal and banking profession with organizations for six-month and one-year paid positions. This unique experiential learning program gives returning women – many of whom have opted out of the legal and banking fields for a period of time to raise children – an opportunity to demonstrate their value in the marketplace while also broadening their experience, skills, and contacts. Organizations that participate in the Fellowship gain access to an untapped group of experienced, diverse high performers who want to return to the profession but face unique challenges due to the gaps in their résumés. For more information, visit www.OnRampFellowship.com or contact Jennifer Winslow, Managing Director, at [email protected]. About the OnRamp Fellowship: Get to Know ACC’s Pro Bono Arm - Corporate Pro Bono Transition Ahead: In-House Career Strategies Part 2: Invest In You Part two of Transition Ahead: In-House Career Strategies Series entitled “The Search Is On” discusses the importance of a strong foundational presence, especially on LinkedIn, as you begin your job. Your digital breadcrumbs matter as you either apply to jobs or use a search / recruiting firm to guide you, so making sure you’re your best version of yourself on Facebook to LinkedIn is key. Social Media – Your Brand Needs It LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Everyone is constantly posting, liking, and tweeting on social media platforms whether it is for professional or personal reasons. Even if you are new to social media, it’s extremely important to have a presence as a professional on LinkedIn, as this business platform is critical to establishing your professional capabilities as well as connecting you to wide network of people and opportunities. This platform not only builds your presence, but also acts as an awareness builder as you start to push your brand voice and message to a curated audience. Make sure your LinkedIn page is aligned with resume and unique message – and that it is clear to employers and recruiters as they often look at your LinkedIn page first when engaging in a search. Within your LinkedIn profile, include keywords that tie back to your industry experiences, job titles and experiences, and headline. Depending on your experience level, building a profile with recommendations from colleagues and featured skills and endorsements may be of limited utility as it will have little impact on your credibility as experienced in- house. However, it will demonstrate your connectivity to others and the company you keep. Lastly, leaving “digital breadcrumbs” throughout LinkedIn legal and in-house counsel industry groups and message boards is a smart and innovative way to build your thought leadership and professional network. This can be done by contributing curated content on topics relevant to your experience and search interest. Search Firms Search firms and recruiters can help move the needle if you are in transition – whether embarking on an industry change or looking to move to another in-house position with another company. When working with a recruiter, make sure they understand and tell your story the same way you do. It is important to know and understand the rules of engagement when working with a search consultant as this will save you time and frustration down the road. Search firms that find in-house counsel work on either a contingency and retained basis. Search consultants who only work on retained searches only represent the company that seeks candidates. Thus, your in-house experience and background need to be a perfect fit for an opportunity. Retained search consultants are open to meetings as way to get to know you, your strengths, and experiences as this is often a good way for them to build a relationship for the future when a search aligned with your legal experience occurs. Contingency recruiters earn a fee only when the organization hires someone. This often means that contingency recruiters must work faster to land potential candidates for roles as they are competing with other recruiting firms and internal Talent Management or HR functions. If this is the case, it’s helpful to have your story / pitch ready for when recruiters approach you, as they will likely move quickly if they think you could be a good fit for an in-house opportunity. A new road to travel The lessons learned from the past must serve as a reminder that we all need to apply a greater and more directed energy and effort to grow relationships and reawaken our passion for activities that we deeply care about to create efforts to fuel a transition. A time of transition is not the time to rest on our laurels, but rather an opportunity to renew and redouble efforts to build relationships and engage in activities that will allow you to demonstrate your strengths. There are many ways to get to the top of the mountain during a time of transition! The change can be exhilarating and at times a bit scary as you maneuver through a path not taken before to land your next in- house position. Have a stable of people on whom you can rely to give you a boost when you need it. Apply and try little steps every day to bring about a change and fresh approach to achieve your desired results. Jan Anne Dubin, Founder and CEO, Jan Anne Dubin Consulting A legal services industry pioneer, Jan Anne Dubin is an awarding- winning consulting and executive coach with 30 years of experience leading, innovating, and serving as a change-agent and connector. Since 1983, Jan has worked with law firms, corporate law departments and other service firms and their leadership often focused on matters related to relationship management, business development and client service delivery including pricing and AFAs, staffing and D & I strategies, development of and responses to new business proposals. Jan serves as an executive coach to individuals engaged in transition within and outside of organizations focused on leadership development and executive presence, relationship management, business development and pipeline management, communications strategies, and building profile and visibility within the community and in social media. In 2017, she was elected to the College of Law Practice Management (COLPM) as a Fellow for extraordinary achievement and in was inducted into the Legal Marketing Association – Midwest Chapter Hall of Fame in 2016 where she has received numerous first- place national “Your Honor” awards for excellence in the profession. Recognized by Today’s Chicago Woman magazine as one of 100 Women Making a Difference, she also received the Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Community Leadership Award. Jan can be reached at [email protected] or 312.399.3116. Transition Ahead: In-House Career Strategies is a two-part series focusing on the career transitions many of us take and the best process and approach to use when forging ahead. When engaging in a transition and the in-house search process, it is important to put in place a team, process, and tools to assist in gaining perspective and creating and fully evaluating opportunities. Please see the 2017 Spring eUpdate for Part 1 in this series. CAREER MOBILITY 4th Annual Corporate Counsel Classic Golf, Spa & Networking Event Saturday, October 14, 2017 Washington, D.C. www.acc-foundation.com Up Coming Events The Care & Feeding of In-House Counsel Dinner Discussion Series, Orlando, FL- Sept. 19, 2017 Contact to RSVP: Sarah Reilly or call 202.791.3539 Hosted by: Dan Malasky, Esq., General Counsel & Managing Director Business Affairs, US Tennis Association 08.15.17 | Tips for Achieving Balance and Managing Your Capacity 11.17.17 | Mindfulness for the Woman Lawyer For more information, please visit www.acc-foundation.com Online Educational Opportunities SUMMER UPDATE e SPOTLIGHT FEATURED PARTNER ACC Foundation OnRamp In-House Fellow Click to view a short video from the 2017 GWILL event
